WOODSTOCK JOURNAL; A Legend of the '60s Points the Way, Again

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Published: March 18, 2007

In a small community center on a placid night, 30 residents of this iconic left-leaning town in a corner of the Catskill Mountains gathered to plot a revolution.

There was no mention of drugs or sex or music, and few, if any, of those in the crowd of mostly baby boomers bore any resemblance to the flower children who flocked to the festival that turned ''Woodstock'' into a bohemian brand name four decades ago. These residents' new countercultural project was environmental: a resolution to reduce net carbon emissions in all of Woodstock to zero -- yes, zero -- within a decade.

Forget for a second the question of whether such a goal is even feasible. In this crunchy town of art galleries and funky shops, where people get around on colorful bikes and storefronts post signs like ''hippies always welcome,'' proponents say that if anyplace can reduce its carbon emissions to zero, Woodstock will be it.

There are those who concede that the resolution, which was approved unanimously by the Town Board on Tuesday night, has a pie-in-the-sky element to it.

But it is tough, if not downright impossible, to find anyone around here who does not applaud Woodstock for trying.

According to the resolution, the town would create a task force to inventory energy use and make recommendations for improvements by 2017. The resolution also seeks to promote the development of renewable energy resources, encourage homeowners to use solar power, improve the efficiency of town vehicles and increase recycling programs.

Randolph Horner, a member of the Woodstock Environmental Commission and an author of the measure, said the town chose the decadelong timeline because scientists who study global warming say the world has 10 years ''before reaching an irreversible tipping point.''

That may be. But zero carbon emissions?

It is not as unrealistic as it sounds, insists Mr. Horner, a renewable energy developer. Woodstock has already installed a solar-heating system, consisting of 112 photo panels atop Town Hall, that provides so much power to the building that it kicks excess energy to the local power grid. A similar mechanism is being installed in the town's large public parking garage.

Similar plans for other buildings are in the works, and the town also has ended the use of propane fuel at its wastewater treatment plant.

Now, the sponsors of the resolution say, the key is to encourage individuals to take similar steps, whether by riding bikes instead of driving or taking advantage of tax incentives to make their homes more energy efficient.

Even if Woodstockers keep driving gasoline-powered cars and heating their homes with oil, Mr. Horner says, the town can reach net zero emissions if it creates more power than it uses.

''The plan is that we'll make so much clean energy with our solar arrays and geothermal heating that it will offset the gasoline that we burn,'' he said. ''We're trying to set a template for other towns throughout the region to follow, and we're doing that with the magic of the Woodstock name.''

In recent years, plenty of towns and cities have acted to reduce emissions. Last year, voters in Boulder, Colo., approved the nation's first ''carbon tax,'' revenue from which would fund efforts to increase energy efficiency in homes and buildings.

Portland, Ore., was the first American city to adopt a strategy to deal with climate change when it began a campaign in 1993 to cut carbon emissions, offering financial incentives to anyone constructing a ''green building'' with built-in energy efficiency.

As a result, Portland was able to reduce emissions below the benchmark set by the international Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to curb global warming.

Some people here say Woodstock's carbon-cutting movement began a long time ago but never picked up steam. At the meeting on Tuesday, Jay Wenk, a former councilman, reminded the board of a resolution he introduced 15 years ago that called on town employees to shut off vehicles that were left to idle for more than a minute. The resolution passed unanimously, but apparently to no avail.

''I guess I was a little ahead of my time,'' Mr. Wenk said. ''It was never put into practice.''

Brian Shapiro, an Ulster County legislator, said the county had plans to hire an energy czar and create a global-warming task force, suggesting that other towns would look to Woodstock to set an example.

''Woodstock has always been ahead of the curve,'' he said, ''so this is keeping with tradition.''

Liz Simonson, a Town Board member, said she was surprised that the resolution had become a hot topic of conversation, particularly among younger residents, in the diners and cafes along Tinker Street, Woodstock's main thoroughfare.

The resolution may largely be symbolic, she said, ''but symbolism has a lot of value.''

''It's a signal to the rest of the world that we are serious about trying to reverse the effects of global warming and our misuse of natural resources,'' she said. ''But this resolution is probably going to be the easiest thing that we do. The hardest decisions lie ahead.''

Photo: Randolph Horner, a renewable energy developer, among the solar energy panels on the Woodstock Town Hall roof. (Photo by Susan Stava for The New York Times)

Map of New York State highlighting Woodstock: In Woodstock, a push for zero net carbon emissions by 2017.